1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a system and method for prioritizing information across a network, and, more particularly, to software, systems and methods for prioritizing information transmitted across a public network, such as the Internet.
2. Relevant Background
Increasingly, business data processing systems, entertainment systems, and personal communications systems are implemented by computers across networks that are interconnected by Internetworks (e.g., the Internet). The Internet is rapidly emerging as the preferred system for distributing and exchanging data. Data exchanges support applications including e-commerce, broadcast and multicast messaging, videoconferencing, gaming, and the like.
The Internet is a collection of disparate computers and networks coupled together by a web of interconnections using standardized communications protocols. The Internet is characterized by its vast reach as a result of its wide and increasing availability and easy access protocols. Unfortunately, the heterogeneous nature of the Internet results in variable bandwidth and quality of service between points. The latency and reliability of data transport is largely determined by the total amount of traffic on the Internet and so varies wildly seasonally and throughout the day. Other factors that affect quality of service include equipment outages and line degradation that force packets to be rerouted, damaged and/or dropped. Also, routing software and hardware limitations within the Internet infrastructure may create bandwidth bottlenecks even when the mechanisms are operating within specifications.
Internet transport protocols do not effectively discriminate between users. Data packets are passed between routers and switches that make up the Internet fabric based on the hardware's instantaneous view of the best path between source and destination nodes specified in the packet. Because each packet may take a different path, the latency of a packet cannot be guaranteed and, in practice, varies significantly. Although Internet infrastructure components have been developed that provide some level of packet prioritization, these components have limited distribution. Because of this limited deployment, web site operators cannot depend on prioritization services to be available throughout the network, and in reality can only depend on a small portion of the Internet being served by such components. Moreover, components that are available may require modifications to the web site to operate. Hence, in large part data packets are routed through the Internet without any prioritization based on content.
Prioritization has not been a major issue with conventional networks such as local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs) that primarily handle well characterized data traffic between a known and controlled set of network nodes. In such environments, the network administrators are in control of network traffic and can effectively police bandwidth consumption, resource availability and distribution, and other variables that affect quality of service. In contrast, public networks such as the Internet, involve data traffic that is out of control of any particular network administrator. However, because of their wide availability, there is an increasing desire to provide network services using public networks, such as the Internet. At the same time, there is an increasing demand for network applications that cannot tolerate high and variable latency. This situation is complicated when the application is to be run over the Internet where latency and variability in latency are many times greater than in LAN and WAN environments.
A particular need exists in environments that involve multiple users accessing a network resource such as a web server. Examples include broadcast, multicast and videoconferencing as well as most electronic commerce (e-commerce) applications. In these applications, it is important to maintain a reliable connection so that the server and clients remain synchronized and information is not lost.
In e-commerce applications, it is important to provide a satisfying buying experience that leads to a purchase transaction. To provide this high level of service, a web site operator must ensure that data is delivered to the customer in the most usable and efficient fashion. Also, the web site operator must ensure that critical data received from the customer is handled with priority.
Because the few techniques that provide traffic prioritization are not widely distributed in public networks, the e-commerce site owner has had little or no control over the transport mechanisms through the Internet that affect the latency and quality of service. This is akin to a retailer being forced to deal with a customer by shouting across the street, never certain how often what was said must be repeated, and knowing that during rush hour communication would be nearly impossible. While efforts are continually being made to increase the capacity and quality of service afforded by the Internet, it is contemplated that congestion will always impact the ability to predictably and reliably offer a specified level of service. Moreover, the change in the demand for bandwidth increases at a greater rate than does the change in bandwidth supply, ensuring that congestion will continue to be an issue into the foreseeable future. A need exists for a system to exchange data over the Internet that provides a high quality of service even during periods of congestion.
Many e-commerce transactions are abandoned by the user because system performance degradation frustrates the purchaser before the transaction is consummated. While a data exchange that is abandoned while a customer is merely browsing through a catalog may be tolerable, abandonment when the customer is just a few clicks away from a purchase is highly undesirable. However, existing Internet transport mechanisms and systems do not allow the e-commerce site owner any effective ability to offer differentiated service levels to the “just browsing” and the “about-to-buy” customers. In fact, the vagaries of the Internet may lead to the casual browser receiving a higher quality of service while the about-to-buy customer becomes frustrated and abandons the transaction.